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Issue: JANUARY 1997 LISTing Policy ........ Annual Dues $ 16.00

Newsletter of the Long Island Sinclair / Timex Users' Group

NEXT LIST MEETING February 9th, 1997

ES A a e o a e e ee T ee ee

On e sample sent receipt of business size SASE jes provided on
Exchange basis wi ae Bons haps d be. re nha lacking hr cles

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Portions of this publication be reproduced, without need for written consent.
Please give credit to ing when fate er any articles. List disclaims responsibility for
any damage to your computer as a result of reading any articles in LISTing.

QL CORNER

The October/November issue of the NESQLUG News stated that Bill Cable
provided some information for the next QL Show in the USA. It is now
firm that the QL Show will be held in Bedford, PA, on May 3rd. No
motel has been selected, however, this allows those who wish to attend
to make travel plans. As agreed in the last NESQLUG -meeting, it will
be sponsored by NESQLUG and Bill Cable and-Ed Kingsley are the contact
people. Stuart, Jochen.-and the: Buders are -coming~ from Europe and
possibly Albin. Frank Davis will be coming to Bedford. Those
travelers who will not drive to Bedford, PA, should book airline
ees RIE into Dulles Airport, Washington, DC. More details will
ollow.

Last month I had written lots of technical information about Eproms and
Eprom Erasers. I telephoned several large lighting companies on Long
Island about purchasing the G8T5 bulb or (Germicidal lamp). The price
now is in the $50.00 plus range, so I decided to purchase a commerical
Eprom Eraser, the DATArase II from DC electronics. The price is $39.95
and this eraser will erase most eproms in approximately 3 minutes. The
short erase time is due to placing the lamp close to the eprom windows.

A test of erasure times for 27256 eproms was established and all eproms
erased within 3 1/2 minutes. My original Eprom eraser took
approximately 25 minutes to erase a 27256 eprom. The original Eprom
eraser could only erase two eproms at a time, however, the DATArase II
will erase four eproms at one time. The manufacturer of the DATArase
II is: Walling Co., Tempe, AZ 85282, telephone 1-800-338-9813. The
DATArase IIACT has an internal timer and a beeper. The cost is $49.00.

I have found only one book dedicated to Eproms, Eprom programmers and
Eprom erasers. "Experimenting With Eproms’, by author Dave Prochnow,
240 pages, soft cover. Within the pages are schematics for programming
Eproms, Eprom erases and 15 different Eprom projects. You can order
this book from Electronics Engineers Book Club, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
17294-0860.

I would like to thank our members of LIST for calling about last
months QL Corner article on Eproms. Thanks for your support!

News from QUANTA, December 1996
Ultra Gold Card alias Goldfire

QL designer Zelkjo Nastasic was contacted by Graham Underwood for
details on the Ultra Gold Card for the QL. The UGC will plug into an
existing original QL. Apparently, the original QL power supply for the
QL is the biggest problem right now.

The 8 bit bus is arranged exactly as on the QL/GC/SGC, with: a few
extensions. and has the ability to operate faster with © 8=+bit
peripherals. The 32 bus is multiplexed (address/data) and uses the
same physical connector in a: transparent manner, meaning: you: can mix '8
and 32 bit peripherals on the same backplane-(Qplane, for instance)
without them ever interfering with each other. 32 bit peripherals do
not occupy the same address space as the 8-bit ones ( i.e. they have
their own, very large IO area).

PAGE "2°"

` Comparison of the data transfer speeds: Standard 8-bit bus (GC/SCG) =
1.8 Mbytes/s. Fats bit (UGC + Aurora) = around 5 Mbytes/s. 32 bit
(future UGC peripherals) = 20 Mbytes’s.

More design goals for the UGC:

~ Approximate size: 160x10@mm (like the Aurora)

-~ Motorola MCF 5102 "Coldfire" CPU, at 25 (or quite possibly 33 MHz
but it is not available yet, except as samples)

~ 32 bit, 72-pin SIMM memory, as used in the PC. Maximum size will
probably be 64 or 256 Mbytes. A Single SIMM can be used (the reason
is the power supply, it uses most of the power on the board), of any
type (single/double-sided, standard/EDO.

- Full bidirectional parallel port, connector compatible with PC/SGC.

- New bus protocol, fast 8-bit and 32-bit.

~ Memory shadowing/transparent writing for Aurora (with fast protocol
should achieve 3x speed compared to SGC). Other things are being
considered, like I2C interface, universal power supply (5 - 10V
input, no jumpers), background floppy access, passive mode for
multiprocessing (multiple UGCs on bus), and similar. Whether we
manage to integrate them at a reasonable cost remains to be seen. Of
course, established GC/SGC features (TK2, floppy interface) will be
implemented on the UGC as well.

Through 1973 - 1986, I was lucky enough to fly to London and Dublin
conducting seminars for British Airways and Aer Lingus. During my off
hours, I would hop a bus to the local book shops (Book sellers). Most
of these book shops hada table in the center of their shops. In
amazement, I would watch young people (ages 4 - 10) sitting ona pile
of books and operating computers such as the ZX 81, Spectrum and a host
of other computers. I recently came across an article in the local
"Penny Saver’ type publication, The Shopper ’s Guide, Massapequa and
Massapequa Park edition. This article reminded me of these youngsters.

Dr. Toy by Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D.

Software can be used to help children to learn new skills, like the
alphabet, typing, math, grammar, spelling, etc. It can be a lot of fun
for the child and a good way to reinforce what’s already been learned.
Skills can be strengthened when the child plays with appropriate games
and practices what’s being learned. Select some of these software
Programs to help your child gain confidence in their abilities. Let us
also know what works for your child.

Sunburst A to Z (ages 3-6 yrs.) $34.95, 1-800-786-3155. An excellent
Product with 26 different activities, one for each letter of the
alphabet. There are animation and musical aspects to assist the child.
Learning letters, numbers, shapes, and colors is fun with this well
Produced item. In addition, the child gains understanding of
opposites, matching and memory

Sunburst Type to Learn (ages 8-14 yrs.) $34.95, 1-800-786-3155. This
is a very important skill for children to learn. The Program makes
learning to type easier. There are 22 step-by-step lessons to help
students gain skills in spelling, grammar and other areas, such as
composition and punctuation. Also, the child will gain useful facts
about geography and astronomy. Six games are included. This
classroom-tested program has proven its value and it’s the perfect
summertime activity.

PAGE = 3 =

Knowledge Adventures Jump Start Preschool (ages 2-4 yrs.) $35.00, 1-800

-542-4240. For the child
ahead, this

needed. There are three
skills,

sounds and animation

program will introduce

numbers and auditory discrimination.
adds

ready to move ahead to prepare

the child to
of -difficulty of
The use of bright colors,
There

levels

to the enjoyment.

for the year
a lot of the skills
reading, memory

are animal friends

to make learning even more fun and 10 songs are included.

Stevanne

the Internet’s World Wide
comments or questions
Toy, 22@ Montgomery St.

The above programs

Couldn’t we produce programs such
article? We have some

in this
How about it!

See you next month...

y
N

ZX Burglar Alarm A

the IN instruction is used, the data on those
lines defined as inputs is loaded into the ac-
cumulator. If the OUT instruction is used,
data on the accumulator is latched onto the
output lines. The PIO can be programmed
to act in any one of four modes:

Feeling insecure? Try this neat
burglar alarm interface for your
ZX81. i

By D.C. McMahon

THIS MICROPROCESSOR controlled

security system will monitor up to eight
remote switch positions each of which can
be either normally open or normally closed,
allowing you to use any combination of
pressure mats, magnetic catches, window
foil or other devices as the sensors. When
triggered, it immediately sounds an alarm
and then displays the number of the affected
input on a seven-segment LED. It can be us-
ed with the ZX81 and quite aside from its
value as an intruder alarm it provides a
useful introduction to the techniques of
microprocessor interfacing using machine
code and the Z80 Parallel Input/Output
Controller. .

The Z80 PIO consists of two groups of
eight lines, port A and port B, and each line
can act as either a data input or output. If

Auerbach, Ph.D.,
development and children’s
for Childhood Resources.

via e-mail to:
San Francisco,
complete list, send a self-addressed, stamped No.

are for IBM compatible

author , consultant
products,
She selects

Web, at

#2811,

Bob Gilder

Mode 0 — Output mode
Mode 1 — Input mode

Mode 2 — Bidirectional mode
Mode 3 — Control mode

The first three modes require the use of

the handshaking facilities and so for this .

design the much simpler control mode has
been used, allowing easy input and output
of data to and from both eight bit ports on
the PIO. Port A provides the eight inputs
from the sensing switches while port B is
split into four inputs and four outputs, the
inputs being used to enter data while the
outputs feed the seven segment display. An
eight bit word is entered via port B into the
register which tells the microcomputer which
of the input lines should be high and which
low (corresponding to normally open and
normally closed switches respectively). The
contents of this register are then continuous-

PAGE - 4 -

and
is the Director
“The 190 Guide, a new magazine on
http://www .drtoy .com.
drtoy drtoy.com or

computers.
as these childrens programs outlined
pretty good QL and TS268 programmers -

expert on child
of the Institute

Send your
write: Dr.

CA 94104 ( for a

10 envelope.

A thought......

ly compared with the inputs to port A and if
any discrepancy is discovered a ‘9’ is sent
out to the display. A timing loop, formed by
loading a high number into the registers H,
L, and then successively subtracting one un-
til the result is zero, ensures that the nine is
displayed for at least a second or so, after
which the number of the affected input is
displayed. An AND gate monitors the A
and D data iines into the display driver and
thus goes high when the 9 is output, the
delay ensuring that it remains high long
enough to latch the relay and thus sound the
alarm.

Construction

Most of the components, including the relay
and the transformer, are mounted on the
PCB, the only off board components beings
the switches, the LED display, the edge con-
nector to suit the ZX81, and the siren or
other output transducer. Make sure that all
four ICs are inserted the right way around,
and similarly check the electrolytic capaci-
tors C1, C4, and C7, and the diodes. Provi-
sion has been made for the use of connec-
tors for the LED display and the input lines
but if you prefer you can, of course, solder

IC4 IS ZBOA PIO
012 ARE 1N4001
D3 IS 1N4148

Q1 80131

Fig. 1 Circuit diagram of the burglar alarm.

R17.24
ALL 10k

- JL
7 SEGMENT LED Tae aay
edcbagf
SPECTRUM
EDGE

CONNECTOR

EST Hr
PBO

directly to the board. It is intended that the
relay should switch a siren or similar device
which draws its power from an external
source, e.g. the mains, but if your particular
application does not specifically demand an
eardrum piercing, complaint eliciting siren,
you might prefer to use an audible warning
device of some sort instead. Providing this
does not draw more than 100 mA or so and
will run from 17V or less, you can connect it
_ directly in the collector circuit of f Qi and
disperse with the relay enurely. The. edge
connector for the ZX81 should be wired i in
accordance with Fig. 2.

The choice of case is left entirely to the
constructor, but since there is mains on the
board it is advisable to have some sort of
enclosure. Mounting the switches should
present no problems but the LED display is
not so easy. If you’re after a particularly
neat appearance you would perhaps do best
to go for an easily cut plastic case, and to cut
out an aperture for the LED and then
mount it flush in epoxy. The input lines,
mains input, and connections to the micro-

computer could either be taken through ~

grommets or, if you’re really fussy, through
appropriate connectors, although it is pro-
bably most convenient to use a connector
only for the input lines.

an nN -sv

A u y: vvo ow FA
H H 8
i

Z3 way FOR ZX81 — KEY AT POSITION 3

A data
A control
B data
B control

BIT
output mode

input mode
bidirectional
control

Table 2 Format of the operation control word.

PAGE - 5 -

Programming

The Z80 PIO has six control lines, three of
which (MI, IORQ, and RD) can be connect-
ed directly to their counterparts on the ZX81
edge connector. The remaining three, B/A
SEL (select port A or B), C/D SEL (select
either control or data carried on bus), and
CE (chip enable) must be connected to the
address bus. The ZX81 address bus has the
following characteristics: AO, Al, A2, A3,
and A4 are all normally high (they are used
to control printer, loudspeaker, etc.), so we
can leave these high and connect B/A SEL,
C/D SEL, and CE to the remaining three
lines, AS, A6, and A7 respectively. AS low
selects port A, AS high selects port B; A6
low selects data (input and output) and A6
high selects control (programming informa-
tion). A7, the chip enable, is always held
low. The resulting eight bit words are shown
in Table 1 and their decimal values are 31,
93, 63, and 127 respectively.

We must next initialize the PIO by sen-
ding two control words to each port. The
first defines which mode and, as we are us-
ing mode three, a second must be sent to
define which of the eight lines are inputs and
which outputs. The format of the operation
control word is shown in Table 2, and it will
be seen that the relevant control word for
ports A and B is 11111111, that is, decimal
255.

The second control word also consists
of eight bits, each one corresponding to the
I/O line with the same number, i.e., bit 0
corresponds to PA (or PB) 0, bit 1 corres-
ponds to PAI, etc. Setting the bit high
defines the associated I/O line as an input,

while setting it low defines it as an output.
Since port A consists of the eight input lines
from the various sensing switches, its control
word will be 111111111, again, decimal 255.
Port B has lines 0, 1, 2, 3 outputting data to
the LED display and lines 4, 5, 6, and 7 ac-
cepting input data from the push button
switches, so its control word will be
11110000, that is, decimal 240.

- The first six instructions of the pro-
gram therefore consist of loading the rele-
vant control word into the accumulator and
outputting it to either address:93 or address
127.(see Table 4 and the flow chart, Fig. 3).

Before the progam can be entered, you
will need to reserve space for the 108 bytes
of machine code by moving RAM-TOP. To
do this type in:

POKE 16388,147

POKE 16389,67

NEW
and follow each statement with the Newline
command. To check that RAMTOP has
teen moved, type in:

PRINT
16388
and you should get 17299.
Having reserved the 108 bytes after
RAMTOP in the ZX81, type in:

10 FOR N=0to 107 .

20 INPUT X

30 POKE 17299+N,X

40 NEXT N

50 PRINT USR 17299 ;
then RUN. The computer will then wait for
you to type in the 108 numbers given in
Table 3.

When the programming has been com-
pleted, a 1 should appear on the LED

. 256*PEEK 16389 + PEEK

INITIALISE
PIO

ae
READY?

DEFINE

OISPLAY
FAILING
LINE NO.

Fig. 3 Flow chart of the burglar alarm program.

EN 16101 shih kdi

ZX BURGLAR ALARM ©

ZX81 Burglar Alarm

S Bsus

~~
edges fe
GNO bg

TO 7 SEGMENT LED

o
=

eceages

R23

Fig. 4 The overlay diagram for. the PCB. Note: the circuit was originally designed for a PC-mounting transformer which may not be available. An or- -
dinary transformer can be mounted off the board with the leads soldered to the PC pads. :

display. This refers to the first line on port
_A, and you must now tell the computer
whether this line is to be high or low, accor-
ding to what type of sensing switch you plan
to use on it. To do this you first press either
switch SW3 (LOW) if the line is to be nor-
mally closed or SW4 (HIGH) if the line is to
be normally open, and then press the
ENTER switch SW2. The LED should now
display a 2, and you repeat the procedure

62, 255, 211, 93,

2135, 127; 2195 63,

62, 0, 30, 0, 60, 211,
32, 246,
16, 232, 62, 0, 211,

40, 5, 203, 127,

111, 32, 250, 203, 11,
103, 40,
16, 250, 24, 237, 197,
V7 571405233, 222, S75

63, 219, 63, 203,
6, 8, 203,
62,.9,..211,

203, 111,
.63, 219, 63, 203,

23, 56, 4,
63, 6, 10,

with this and each of the subsequent lines.
When all eight lines have been entered
and the register is full, the microprocessor
goes into a continuous loop, checking each
line against its corresponding bit in the
register. Should you wish to redefine the
normal state of the lines, pressing SW1 emp-
ties the register and thus stops the program.
If the alarm is triggered, it can be reset by
pressing first SW2 and then SW1. Š

O meee e

211, 93, 211, 127, 62, 240,

40, 250, 6, 8,
119,
28, 219, 63, 203,

210, 219, 31, 171,

237, 82, 32, 252, 16, 247, 193, 120, 211, 63,

219, 63, 203, 111, 32,

32, 250, 24, 160

Table 3 The ZX81 data. -

250, 219, 63, 203, 103,

Resistors (all 4% W, 5%)
RI 4k7

R2, 4,5,6, 470R
7,8,9,10
R3 330R

R11, 12, 13, 14}0k
15, 16, 17, 18,

19, 20, 21, 22,

23, 24

Capacitors
Cl 1000u 16V

electrolytic
C2, 3 100n
C4 22u 16V
electrolytic
C5, 6 10n ceramic

C7 100u 10V tantalum -

Semiconductors
IC1 7805

IC2 7408

IC3 7447

1C4 Z80A PIO

Ql BD131

Di, 2 1N4001

D3 1N4148

DISP1 Common anode
7-segment

display

Miscellaneous

RLAI 12V DC 400R
miniature relay

Tl 9-0 9V 6VA
transformer

SW1, 2, 3,4 momentary action,
push-to-make

PCB: edge connector to suit ZX81; 10-way
0.1” pitch PCB plug and socket — 2 off
each; case, etc. to suit.

PAGE - 7 -

The various intruder detecting switches are
connected between ground and the eight lines
of port A on the PIO. Each of the eight lines is
connected to the +5V line through a pull-up
resistor; so that when the associated switch is
open a logic high level will appear on the in-
put, and when the switch is closed the line will
be pulled down to logical low. The latter four
lines on port B are similarly connected so that
pushing any of switches 1 to 4 takes the
associated line low. The first four lines on port
B are used for the display output and carry a
four bit binary code. This is fed directly to the
decoder/driver 7447 and then to the seven seg-
ment display.

When the program is executed it puts out
a ‘1’ and then waits for the line to be defined.
Taking either line 6 or line 7 on port B low
enters a 0 to | as desired into register E. Subse-
quently taking line 5 iow initiates a rotate right
instruction which moves the entered data one
place to the right so that the register is ready to
receive the next bit. The microprocessor then
outputs a ‘2’ and the process is repeated until
register E is full.

The microprocessor then goes into a con-
tinuous loop, using the XOR function to
simultaneously compare each input line with

the corresponding bit in register E. If both bits
are at the same level, either both high or both
low, the XOR function will produce a 0 out-
put, but if the two bits are at different logic
levels the XOR will give a 1. The RLA instruc-
tion is used to shift each bit into the carry flag
and test for a 1 and if no carry is detected the
microprocessor carries on testing the lines.

When a 1 is detected, a nine is briefly sent
out via port B to the display. At the same
time, a large number is loaded into registers H
and L and | is successively subtracted until the
result is zero. A total of 148 140 machine
cycles are needed for this, and the nine is
therefore displayed for a full second or so
before the micro processor removes it and
displays instead the number of the failed line.
The AND gate IC2b has its inputs connected
to the A and D lines from port B, and will
therefore go high only when a nine is put out.
Its output is connected to IC2a, another AND
gate, which is wired as a latch. IC2a drives the
transistor Q1 which turns on the relay. The
other input of IC2a is connected to line 5 of
port B, and if SW2 is pressed this line will go
low, unlatching the gate and thus turning off
the relay.

L.I.S.T. officers

Pres. Harvey Rait
Vice Pres. Bob Gilder
Tresurer Robert Malloy
Cor. Secy. John Pazmino
Assoc. Editors Fred Stern
Harvey Rait

Publisher Bob Gilder
Libr. Tom Skapinski
Please send all inquiries and
submissions (including dues)
to: LileSs7T5

Mr. Harvey Rait

5 Peri Lane,

Valley Stream, N. Y. 11581

-19

63
Lo B 10
L3 OE 1
LD HL 16814
S8C HL,

Table 4 Assembler listing of the burglar
alarm program.

COMING EVENTS: The next L.I.S.T.
meeting will be Sunday 2/689/'97
at 2 P.M. at the home of Harvey
Rait (see address above).

PAGE - 8 -

[QL lives! It seems that soonest a one QL publication folds, a new one
springs up. This notice about QL Today was issued in May 1996 and is
spot-edited. Swenson, of the US Air Force Institute of TEchnology, is at
SWENSOTC@SD2.WPAFB.AF.MIL. J]

The QL magazine IQLR has recently stopped publishing, mostly due to
the editors failing health. A number of European QL vendors (Jochem Merz,
Tony Firshman, and Dylwin Jones) have created "QL Today" to take over
for IQLR readers.

At the North American QL show, I picked up a copy of the first issue.
It looks pretty good and I did subscribe.

Other QLers might be interested in knowing that "QL Today" does exist.
The bad thing for North American QLers is that the cost of subscribing will
be higher than IQLR was, due to the high cost of mailing. This was the same
problem European QLers had with IQLR.

The Subscription costs are:

Germany DM 70 or 30 pounds
England DM 60 or 25 pounds
Other DM 79 or 30 pounds

For US QLers that's about $45. A bit steep, but with the soom demize of
UPDATE, "QL Today" will be THE primary place to get QL information.
For more information contact Tony Firshman, TONY@FIRSHMAN.DEMON.CO.UK.

Taking a P.C.
To the Toilet

Suffice it to say that Jackie
Mason is not so crazy about
the new technology. This is
excerpted from the comedi-
an’s one-man show on Broad-
way, “Love Thy Neighbor”:

All the geniuses with computers love to tell you you
can talk to people all over the world if you’re on line.
Who wants to? You want to talk to people all over the
world? People don’t talk to the guy next door. ... People
are standing in an elevator — do you talk to anybody? A
guy calls you up and he’s got the wrong number — do
you start a conversation? Do you ever say, “Sure glad
you got the wrong number!” You're gonna holler, “You
got the wrong number!” And God forbid he calls you
again: you think he’s a stalker, you call the police.

People are nuts, you know that? . . . They're crazy
about computers. ... Last week a guy calls me: “I
spoke to a guy from Siberia, a mountain climber from
Siberia.” .. . If a mountain climber from Siberia came.
over to your house and said, “Hello, I’m a mountain
climber!” Would you say, “Come in, I’m dying to talk to
you! All my life I wanted to talk to a mountain climber
from Siberia! It’s my greatest dream!”

It’s the biggest fraud in the world. They also like to
tell you you. can make airline reservations all over the
world. You ever see these nuts with the computers?

“All over the world I can make airline reservations.” `

They tell you, “Oh, you
have a computer — you can
talk to people all over the
world.” People buy it. They
buy it because of the publicity
that you can talk to people all

over the world. You can have
3,000 newspapers. You can
have everything...

“Oh, I got a computer!”

Jackie Mason

“What do you do with it?”

“I don’t know.” ..

Imagine if the opposite was true. Imagine if every-
body had a computer for $9,000 and you were stuck bya
table every time you had to learn anything or read any-
thing. . . And all of a sudden somebody invented a whole
new thing — a newspaper! You know what would hap-
pen? Everybody would say, ‘What an invention! A
newspaper! For half a dollar you got the same thing!”
Not only that, you can take it wherever you want to go.
You can’t take a computer to the toilet.... You can take
this wherever you want — wherever you want! The
dog: he’s about to go — do you put a computer under-
neath? :

PAGE - 9 -

The phone does the same thing — for a quarter you get
the same information.... f ;
Did you ever notice that even they’re computer-

` ized?. . . So now you have to press buttons for an hour.

... Press 1 if you want to fly now, press 2 if you want to
fly later, press 3 if you want to fly alone, press 4 if you

_ want to fly with your sister, press 5 if it’s your brother,

if you're meeting your brother-in-law press 2... if you
want to press a pair of pants press 90... you’re press-
ing and pressing for an hour and a half and then you

miss the plane.
Photograph by Steve J. Sherman for The New York Times

ATTENTION LIST Subscribers: When it is time to renew your membership,
(look at your mailing label), please make out your check to Harvey
Rait, LIST President or to Robert Malloy, Treasurer. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE
OUT YOUR CHECK to LIST. Our bank requires a large amount of money ina
savings account in order to cash checks. THANK YOU!

Harvey Rait Robert Malloy
5 Peri Lane, 412 Pacific Street,
Valley Stream, NY 11581 Massapequa Park, NY 11762

Due to rising postage costs outside of the United States, we must raise
our annual dues accordingly:

USA postage $16.00
CANADA and MEXICO $17.50 US, and the rest of the world $24.00 US.

Bob Malloy, LIST Treasurer

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